Angry Orchard Releases Its First American Collaboration Cider

Angry Orchard and Eden Specialty Cider today announced the release of Understood in Motion 01, a new collaboration cider born of friendship among two Northeast cider makers, as well as a shared commitment to raising awareness of the American cider industry. This cider is Angry Orchard’s first American collaboration. Additional Understood in Motion ciders, named for the motion of apple harvest and the cider making process, are already in the works for next year.

Collaborations like this, which are rare in the cider industry, give cider makers the opportunity to combine techniques and favorite ingredients to develop something completely new, allowing drinkers to think about hard cider in a new light. The cider was debuted at a James Beard House Dinner in New York City on November 4, and will be available to purchase at the Angry Orchard in Walden, NY beginning on National Cider Day, November 18.

“One of our main goals is to raise awareness of the cider industry in the Unites States, and this is a goal our friends at Eden share,” said Ryan Burk, Head Cider Maker at Angry Orchard. “Their cider makers make some of the world’s best ice ciders and I’ve always admired their approach. With this collaboration, we were able to combine our techniques to create something completely new and, in the process, help push American cider forward.”

Eden is known for its ice ciders, which are sweet and apple-forward, and made from Vermont heirloom apples. Angry Orchard makes a variety of ciders, including specialty ciders available only at the Innovation Cider House, its home for research and development at its 60-acre orchard in Walden, New York, as well as ciders available more broadly. Its most popular cider, Angry Orchard Crisp Apple is made with bittersweet and culinary apples from Europe, and strikes a perfect balance between sweet and dry. Understood in Motion 01 lands somewhere in between – it’s semi-dry and drinkable – still, like wine – and meant to be shared among friends.

“At its root, this collaboration was inspired by apples and the cider makers who care about them,” says Eleanor Leger, Founder and CEO of Eden Specialty Cider. “It was an honor to come together with Angry Orchard, a leader within the cider community, to create something completely new that was true to both of our techniques.”

More about the cider:

The Backstory: The cider makers at Angry Orchard and Eden are like-minded partners, both based in the Northeast, New York and Vermont respectively. They are focused on making hard ciders with innovative techniques and high quality ingredients, while also paying homage to the American cider making tradition. The decision to make this cider came about when Eden’s Eleanor Leger and Angry Orchard’s Ryan Burk were hanging out in New York City after a cider event, talking about cider and apples, and how there just aren’t a lot of collaborations in the cider industry. Each known for different styles of cider, they decided it’d be interesting to bring their techniques together.

Creation: Together, the cider makers chose specific apples varieties from Vermont. Eden pressed the apples and fermented the juice at its cidery and then sent it down to Angry Orchard’s Innovation Cider House. There, the cider was fermented slowly to dryness and spent six months aging – some of it in tanks and some in used Calvados barrels. At that point, Eleanor visited Ryan at the cider house for final blending. Together, they worked to blend in different amounts of a three-year-old ice cider from Eden to achieve a perfectly balanced finished cider.

The Apples: This new hard cider is made from a carefully selected blend of heirloom apples from Vermont, including Ananas Reinette and D’Arcy.

Tasting Notes: The cider is semi-dry with balanced acidity and is low in tannins. It has an overripe, baked apple flavor with notes of honey and a light floral aroma. There are some oak and spirits flavor notes from the time it spent aging in Calvados barrels. The result is a truly balanced cider, which incorporates key qualities unique to each cider maker. Angry Orchard strives to achieve the perfect balance in all ciders, from the flagship Crisp Apple to this collaboration. This cider goes well with savory main dishes like roasted rosemary chicken or Thanksgiving turkey, and is delicious with spicy, gamey meats.

Availability: Understood in Motion 01 (8% ABV) is the first American collaboration to come from Angry Orchard and will be available for limited release at the Angry Orchard Innovation Cider House starting on National Cider Day, November 18, 2016, in 750mL bottles for $25.00 per bottle, while quantities last.